The Truth Beneath the Rose
by AnnaRavenheart
Summary: Rose Weasley, a model student, a beautiful girl, a true jewel, is not the person she claims to be. Like every rose, she has thorns. Beneath the layer of sweetness lies greed, her biggest passion. Always wanting more, she will try to lure Scorpius, the boyfriend of her cousin, Lily Luna, into her trap. Will Lily Luna be able to discover the truth about her before it's too late?
1. Flames of Love and Greed

_**The Truth Beneath the Rose**_

**Summary: **Rose Weasley, a model student, a beautiful girl, a true jewel is not the person she claims to be. Like every rose, she has thorns. Beneath the layer of sweetness lies greed, her biggest passion. Always wanting more, she will try to lure Scorpius, the boyfriend of her cousin, Lily Luna, into her trap. Will Lily Luna be able to discover the truth about her before it's too late?

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**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter

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_**Flames of Love and Greed**_

The corridor in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady was completely dark; not even a single torch was placed to lighten up the path. The fact that the darkness had been sprawled around like some monster obviously hadn't bothered the two youngsters that were talking and giggling in the corridor, waving with their wands. The Fat Lady shot them a reproachful look. Their giggling disturbed her sleep, as did the light of their wands. Instead of yelling at them for disturbing her she decided to spy on them; who knows, maybe she would hear something interesting.

The boy leaned against the wall, his hands resting in his pockets casually. A small smile played on his face as he listened to his cheerful companion. He was so occupied with staring at her jade-colored eyes that he failed to hear her question. She threw him an amused look as she pouted her lips.

"Scorpius, do you hear me? Scorpius? Oi, you daydreamer, wake up!" Lily snapped her fingers, trying to draw his attention. Scorpius slightly flinched at the sound and Lily giggled. "Are you listening to me?"

"Of course I am," he rushed to say, frowning. "Erm...what did you say before?" he added. She laughed even louder and a small blush crept up his face.

"This proves that you weren't listening," she said and shook her head. Scorpius reached out and tugged lightly at one of her red locks, but she sternly slapped his hand away and bowed her head to hide her flushed cheeks. "Would you be kind enough to help me with my Transfigurations homework?" she asked.

"Hmm, let me see," he mumbled, scratching his chin absent-mindedly. Lily grimaced lightly at these words. "I will, if you return the favor," he said after a minute of silence, grinning wolfishly.

"What kind of favor?" she asked carefully, looking at his icy blue eyes.

He put his hand around her shoulders, forcing her to move closer to him. Her eyes widened in surprise. "What are you...?" she began but he interrupted her, placing one white finger across her lips.

Lily had not been experienced when it comes to boys since she had never had a boyfriend before, but she was smart enough to understand what would come next. Trapped with uncertainty, she was unable to react and a moment later Scorpius' lips were pressed tightly against hers. A wave of warmness washed over her as his lips began to move slowly, gently caressing hers. The fluttering in her stomach forced her to surrender and she timidly began moving her lips, lightly tugging on his silver-green tie. The Fat Lady widened her eyes in surprise and covered her mouth, to prevent the giggle escaping from her lips. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin were kissing; it wasn't something you could see every day.

Drunk with the excitement, Lily forgot about that fact for a moment. She was so absorbed into their kiss that she forgot that their parents were...enemies? Not really, but they weren't friends either. At that moment it wasn't important, their lips were crushed together and she could feel his warm breath on her skin, he was with her; that was all that mattered.

Scorpius hadn't thought about that either. He didn't care about the fact that their families weren't on good terms. He didn't care if his father would oppose; his mother would be there to support her son. He didn't care about the fact that Lily was a Gryffindor. After all, he thought that the hostility between their houses was quite stupid.

A loud clap of thunder interrupted them and they both jumped, startled. Lily's eyes widened and she began staring at Scorpius. He smiled and moved his head closer to hers, wanting to continue. This time, reality hit her with the full force and she pushed him away, swiftly disengaging from his arms. "Stop," she said, her voice quivering.

His face frowned. "Why?" he asked, his voice filled with worry. "What's wrong?"

Lily shook her head. "This is wrong Scorpius, we shouldn't have done this," she whispered, desperate to persuade herself more than him.

"Why not?" he insisted to know. "Because we belong to different houses?" Scorpius snorted.

"No," she said. "That is not important, but the fact that our parents would never allow us to be together is," she nervously removed the stray lock from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.

"I don't care about that, Lily. We are adults now," he replied stubbornly, folding his arms across his chest.

Lily grinned. "I can't believe that you are so immature sometimes. The fact that you have eighteen years and that I have seventeen doesn't make us adults. We are still in school, we don't have jobs, and we still can't take care of ourselves."

"This is my last year of school. I will find a job, I will take care of you; of us both, in case that our parents decide to throw us out," he protested, wrongly interpreting her words.

"That's not the matter! We can't defy our parents like that. I don't care about money; I don't want to be separated from my family. It's not like they would throw me out because of that, but they would be disappointed and I can't do that to them. They've cared for me during my whole life!" she exclaimed, pressing her lips into a thin line.

"Lily, listen to me, please..." he tried to reason with her but she turned around.

"I don't have to. I want to sleep, it's late," she said as she headed towards the portrait.

"Lily, wait!" he bellowed, grabbing her arm and turning her around. His fingers raised her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. "I love you, Lily Luna Potter. And I don't care about anything or anyone else," he said, his voice soft yet serious.

His love declaration shocked her more than anything else that happened that night. She had been able to expect anything from Scorpius, but this? Never. He had never been a person who would go around and openly talk about his feelings. "Why are you saying this?" she asked, feeling flattered despite her fears.

"Because you are the sweetest, smartest, most interesting and most enchanting girl I have ever met. I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things," he said in a gentle voice, still glaring at her.

"Flatterer," she mumbled, unable to prevent the smile that appeared on her lips and he released her arm, smiling softly. She saw her opportunity and rushed towards the portrait. The portrait moved aside before she even had the chance to say the password. The Fat Lady winked at her naughtily. Lily blushed. _'Great, she saw everything,'_ she mused as she passed through the hole.

"Good night!" Scorpius exclaimed and Lily turned around.

"Good night!" she replied. Before the hole closed behind her she glanced at Scorpius who still stood there, smiling gently and straightening his tie.

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His left hand traveled across her sweat-covered body, his right hand gripped her hip tightly while his hot and uneven breath tickled her earlobe. While his moistened lips traced the line of her neck, she forced herself to let out a moan of faked pleasure. Only the alcohol that surged through her veins gave her the strength to continue moving her body back and forth, impaling herself further with every move. His moans became louder with her every movement and she wholeheartedly prayed for this to finish as quickly as possible. She wondered how long she would have to endure before she would quit the masquerade and run away. She was sick of it, sick of everything.

"Gods, Rose!" he groaned, roughly forcing her to take his whole length. As he rammed with full force into her, she bit her lip to prevent the painful moan from escaping from her cracked lips. She silently counted the thrusts. One, two, three, four, five. Five more thrusts before he spilled his seed into her. Five more trusts before everything was over. Sighing with relief, she rolled off of his body and buried her head into a pillow. A warm tear escaped from her chocolate eyes and she wiped it away with a nervous move of her hand. Every inch of her body had been numbed with pain; she really didn't have the will to rise up. She also didn't have the will to stay in this bed. Through the mist that covered her half-drunk, half-bored mind she heard the squeaking of the bed.

A couple of moments later she had smelled the alluring scent of wine. "Here, take this," the man said, waving the crystal glass in front of her nose. Rose greedily snatched the glass away from him, taking long gulps. Alcohol was the thing she wanted the most at that moment; it was her best painkiller and the best bringer of desired oblivion. The sweetness and warmness of the wine coiled around her body like vines. When she finished the glass, the man took it or else it would fall from her weakened grasp.

"Thank you Theodore," she mumbled and forced herself to smile. _'I need to fake the gentleness; I need to be the sweet little angel. Come on, Rose, you are strong, you can do it,' _she tried to encourage herself with these thoughts as well as to remind herself what she needs to do. She wouldn't allow herself to waste all of her efforts. She was closer to fulfilling her cause with every single day. She managed to get into the bed of Theodore Nott, her Potions professor, the richest professor in the school. Not that he was the richest man in the Wizarding World, but this was a good start. She needed to climb up a lot of stairs before she would reach the top. One day she would have everything that her parents had never been able to give to her. _Wealth. _

He smiled at her, and ruffled her sweat-drenched hair. "I have something for you," he whispered in her ear and the flame appeared in her dull eyes.

"What?" she asked curiously, hoping that it would be something nice and valuable, like the fur coat he gave her for her last birthday.

"You shall see," he replied and moved away from her. She raised herself slightly in order to follow his every movement, the flame of greed burning inside her eyes. He took the long box that was placed on top of the small, ebony wardrobe and handed it to her. She carefully examined it, immediately noticing that it's decorated with blue satin laces. _'Something valuable must be inside,'_ she came to a conclusion.

"Open it," he encouraged her. She gave him a sweet smile as her nimble fingers raised the lid.

Inside of the box, carefully placed on the blue velvet, lay a heavy silver medallion decorated with shiny green stones, probably emeralds. Her heart jumped at the sight of it, her brain already thinking about the value of this piece of jewellery. _'It would fit nicely with my uniform. All of my classmates will be jealous,' _she mused, caressing the cold silver.

"Do you like it?" Nott asked, observing her behavior.

"Yes, a lot," she breathed. "You shouldn't have wasted your money on me, I can't take something so expensive," she added, frowning.

He placed a finger on her lips. "You can't refuse it. It's a gift, and certainly isn't more worthy than you. You shouldn't be so modest," he smiled at her. She lowered her head, smirking triumphantly. Feigning modesty always was a smart tactic. "Do you want me to put it around your neck?"

"I would like it," she said, kissing him passionately. What was a little kiss? Nothing. Just a meager sacrifice for all the riches she would gain.

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**A/N:** I hope that you loved this chapter. I got the idea for this story a while ago while I was listening to the song 'Esa Hembra Es Mala' and I couldn't push it away from my mind. I simply needed to write this. This was written for **Lil'MissChriss'** **Seven Sins Competition (greed)** and for **AlwaysPadfoot's 52 Weeks of Writing Competition.** If you want, review, I'm eager to know your opinion. I promise that I will try to update as soon as I can.


	2. A Nobody

_**A Nobody**_

Quietly she prowled the empty, unlit corridors that led to her common room. Occasionally, she stopped and glanced behind, just in case someone was following her. She had not wanted to risk and get caught in such a state. Her red hair was completely messy and she wasn't exactly walking straight, courtesy of alcohol. Despite that fact she was walking proudly, her chin raised up; just like she was the Queen of the entire world. Her chocolate eyes shone with excitement as she finally reached the stone wall and murmured the password. Luckily the common room was empty and quiet; the only thing that made the noise was the fire that crackled in the stone fireplace.

She rushed towards her dormitory. Both her roommates were sleeping. She quietly approached her bed, took off her shoes and threw them in the corner. The noise woke up one of her housemates.

"Rose, is that you?" her housemate asked in a low voice, yawning.

"No, it's my ghost!" Rose snapped. "Of course it's me," she added, she didn't have any patience for stupid questions. Who else would it be?

"Geez, Rose, calm down," the girl murmured, raising slightly and looking at her. "Where have you been?" she asked curiously; her light eyebrows lifted a fraction.

"It's not your business," Rose replied, tossing herself onto the bed. She didn't even bother to remove her clothes.

"You were with Professor Nott again," her roommate said; it was more a statement than a question.

Rose let out an audible sigh. Her roommate, Nathalie Zabini wasn't a stupid girl and Rose silently cursed herself for revealing her secret to her.

"I was, so what? You are going to tell this to the others?" Rose asked, her every word filled with malice.

"No, Rose, don't be so stupid! You very well know that I wouldn't do that. I have been guarding your secret for years," Nathalie protested, shifting herself on the Rose's bed. "So, tell me, how has it been?" she asked curiously, absent-mindedly playing with her blonde locks.

Rose rolled her eyes. She was fed up and gossiping about her encounter with the professor wasn't exactly the thing she wanted to do at that moment. The fact that Nathalie spoke about it like it was some sort of very special romance angered her more than everything. "Same like always," she said and shrugged. "Well, except one thing," she added teasingly; a smug smirk spread across her lips.

Her roommate raised her eyebrows. "What?" she asked curiously. Rose remained silent, savoring the moment of silence before she would present her gift. Nathalie grabbed the small, green pillow and lightly hit Rose's head. "You teaser, spit it out!"

Rose giggled as she unbuttoned her ruffled shirt and took the medallion out, without saying a word. With enjoyment she observed the blue eyes of her roommate, which kept widening at the sight. Nathalie reached out to touch the shiny silver, twisting it in her hands, carefully touching the small shiny stones. "Oh my God, Rose, it's beautiful," she breathed, her eyes still fixed upon the expensive piece of jewelry. "And very expensive," she added before releasing it. "I never saw anything so beautiful."

"I knew that you would like it," Rose said, tugging on her hair. A wave of wicked bliss washed over her as she realized that the time when her housemates whispered behind her back, laughed at her clothes, laughed at her since she was not of the same social status like they were, was gone. Nathalie was one of them, and here she was now, admiring something _she_ owned.

"He gave it to you?"

Rose rolled her eyes again because Nathalie knew how to be really boring, asking something when the answer was more than obvious. "No, I was walking down the hallway and I found it lying on the floor, perhaps someone lost it," she replied sarcastically.

"Ha, ha, really funny," Nathalie grinned before she shot her a serious look. "And you took something so valuable just like that?"

"Yes, I did, so what!?" Rose exclaimed coldly.

Nathalie shook her head. "You shouldn't have, I mean, you do not know where he got that medallion..."

"He surely hadn't stolen it," Rose interrupted her.

"I didn't want to say that," Nathalie sighed. "Maybe he took it from his spouse. Imagine what would happen if she saw you wearing it?"

Rose kept looking at her silently and then she burst into laughter, her whole body shaking. Nathalie glared at her, dumbfounded.

"What's so funny?"

"You," Rose said through her gritted teeth, trying to stop her sudden fit of laughter because she didn't want to awake her other roommate. "You are so paranoid sometimes. I just can't believe it. Do you think that he is so stupid to give me something that belonged to his wife?"

"No he is not, but I think that you should be more careful." Nathalie crossed her legs before she added, "What will you say to your parents? I hope that you are not planning to hide the medallion. You know what happened when you hid the golden ring last time, your father made a scene when he found it. I don't blame him; my parents would do the same if they found out that I have something that they didn't buy, or they didn't have the money to _afford_ me such thing."

Rose shot her a furious look. '_Thank you for reminding me that my good-for-nothing parents can't even afford me a simple golden ring.'_ Instead of that she said, "I won't hide it, I will tell them that you gave it to me since it's old and you don't want to wear it anymore. It's not that they will like it, but it's better than truth, I suppose." That was what she said when they found the ring, when she brought home the fur coat, the silver watch, the amethyst earrings and a lot of other things. Her father believed in her words, but he wasn't glad that she accepted such expensive gift, especially from a Slytherin. Rose sometimes thought that he would swap her, _his daughter_, for any other girl that wasn't sorted in Slytherin. It was a shock for the entire family, but her father was the only one that behaved like it was a crime.

"Your mother is not going to believe that," Nathalie stated. Rose nodded grimly. Her mother was too intelligent to buy that story. She was glad that her mother never pressed the matter further, but her one look was enough for Rose to acknowledge that she had never believed.

"I don't care," Rose huffed. "It's not like she can do anything."

"I don't know what to say," Nathalie replied honestly. "I think that you should quit with it before it gets out of control. It's becoming dangerous, Rose."

"No, I can't quit!" Rose shouted, her eyes gained some kind of a fanatic shine. "No matter how dangerous it could become, no matter if I will get expelled from school, no matter if I will destroy a relationship with my parents, brother and cousins. Nothing matters! I need to fight for myself..."

"But, Rose, there are other ways..."

"No, there aren't! You don't know how it feels to be a nobody; a worthless, poor, good-for-nothing scapegoat! It is easy for you; you were born into a rich family. I wasn't! It's enough that I'm labeled because my mother is a Muggleborn. Money is the only thing that can help me, and I don't have any other way to gain wealth and social status except to marry someone that is filthy rich."

"Merlin's beard, Rose, I hope that you don't expect that you and Professor Nott will get married, for Merlin's sake; he is already _married!_" Nathalie screeched.

Rose threw herself down on the bed and covered her head with a pillow. "Could you stop? I don't want to listen anymore!"

"Come on, stop behaving so childishly, you know that I'm speaking the truth. He surely won't leave his Pureblood woman to marry someone whose mother is a Mudblood!" Nathalie said bluntly.

"How dare you say that word!?" Rose jumped up and hissed threatingly, her face just one centimeter away from Nathalie's.

Nathalie backed away. "I'm sorry, I didn't say it to offend you, I just want to make you realize. There is no chance that he will abandon his wife just to be with you. He is only using you, he doesn't love you."

"If he doesn't love me he wouldn't buy me such expensive gifts, he wouldn't spend his every free moment with me," Rose protested.

"Love or not, it's not important. You know that in the world of Purebloods and rich people, almost no one marries because of love," Nathalie stated.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't stand a ghost of a chance," Rose sighed.

Nathalie looked at her, surprised. "Rose, just don't tell me that you are in love with him."

Rose rolled her eyes and looked back at her roommate. "Are you crazy or what? Of course I'm in love, but not with him, with his money," she said, emphasizing the last words.

"Oh," her roommate giggled. "You were looking so sad when I told you that you don't have a chance, and I thought that you really began loving him. Silly me."

"I was sad because it was hard even to get him, and I really don't know who else I could catch," Rose said sadly.

Nathalie yawned. "Anyway, I think that you should break up with him as soon as you can. There are plenty of rich ones and younger ones also."

Rose smiled. "Yes, there are, but I don't have any chance with them also. Half of my housemates hate me and the other half acts like I don't exist. For them, I'm a filthy Mudblood. Besides that, I don't know if I could break up with him. He thinks that I love him."

"Make an excuse; tell him that you don't want to be his lover anymore, that it is humiliating. I don't know, you are smart, you will find a way,"

"Probably."

Nathalie yawned again. "Now let's go sleep. It's late. Good night, Rose!"

"Good night, Nathalie," she said when her housemate went back to her bed. Rose sank under the blankets; her head began pulsing with pain. _'I think I should quit drinking,' _she mused.

"I still don't know why you think that you are worthless," Nathalie mumbled.

Rose remained quiet; she didn't know what to say. She felt abandoned, so alone. When she was little she felt safe, surrounded by her loving parents, aunts and uncles. She lived in some sort of a small bubble filled with love, laughter and warmness. The same moment she went to school, she felt like someone popped that bubble and left nothingness behind. She was separated from her family, and on top of all, she got sorted into Slytherin. She clearly remembered the expressions of her cousins when the hat exclaimed 'Slytherin!'

She remembered the Howler her father sent to her the next morning. The Howler that told her that she besmirched her family, that he was ashamed for having such a daughter. She remembered the laughter of the entire hall, and how the Headmistress McGonagall threw her a compassionate look. From Rose's point of view, it wasn't compassion, it was pity, and it hurt more than anything else. Her mother later told her that her father never meant what he said, that he just was angry and disappointed. He confirmed that, but Rose couldn't have chased those words from her mind. She could hear them every day.

_'Rose Molly Weasley, how dare you get sorted into Slytherin?!...How you dare get involved with the descendants of people that wanted to slaughter your entire family!...You are a disgrace!... You, my beloved, my smart daughter... I'm so disappointed. ...If I knew what you will become...I'm sorry you were born!...' _

She batted her eyelashes, preventing the tears threatening to descend. Despite the fact she had always been smart and had the best grades, and won the countless points for her house, she was never accepted. All of her housemates looked at her with disdain, she was not rich, like the rest of the Slytherins, and she was a Mudblood. Not all of them said that openly, but she could have felt what they thought. They evaded her, like she was plagued.

_'And she wonders why I think that I'm a nobody,' _Rose mused. Without money, she was nobody, she realized. She was a leaf that could have been carried away by a faintest rush of wind, a cockroach anyone could have smashed with his foot, ash that could have been blown away.

The memories flew back into her mind, threatening to suffocate her. The memories of the night when her innocence received the final blow, the night when good, sweet Rose forever died. The night when the greed-poisoned monster rose from the depths of her soul. She didn't want to remember, but she couldn't forget; not now, not ever.

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**A/N:** Here is the next chapter, hopefully, you didn't have to wait long. Sorry if this chapter is only Rose centered, but I wish to focus on her a bit. Hope you don't mind the lack of explanation of the last part, I didn't want to reveal everything immediately. You will get the explanation soon... I promise! Anyway, if you want, please, review, I love to hear your opinion!


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